Investors pushing Nintendo to support Apple's iPhone, iPad

Investors believe Nintendo should bring some of its most popular franchises, like Super Mario, to Apple's iOS platform, as the Japanese company's 3DS portable gaming device struggles against the iPhone.

One fund manager believes Nintendo should abandon its strategy of only releasing titles for its own hardware, and support other platforms, including the iPhone, iPad and Facebook. According to Bloomberg, Masamitsu Ohki, a fund manager at Stats Investment Management Co., believes Nintendo should enter the growing smartphone market, which has proved to be a major player in portable gaming.

The report noted that Nintendo stock jumped after it was revealed a Pokemon title was coming to the iPhone and Android. However, those gains disappeared when Nintendo reaffirmed that it does not plan to support competing hardware.

The success of the iPhone was in part to blame for relatively mediocre sales of the newly launched Nintendo 3DS. Responding to the handheld's slow start, Nintendo announced just four months after it launched that it would slash the device's price by $80.

But Nintendo President Satoru Iwata believes the reason the 3DS had a slow start is a lack of hit titles at launch. He has said his company will not support other platforms, even as Nintendo's stock has hit six-year lows.

Nintendo's primary competitors in the console game market, Microsoft and Sony, have their own smartphones that act as portable game devices. Sony has even launched a PlayStation-branded phone, while Microsoft is hoping to leverage its Xbox-related successes on the company's Windows Phone 7 platform.

While competition in the smartphone space continues to grow, Nintendo is resting on about $10 billion in cash and investments, which some investors reportedly think the Japanese company should make better use of. Tokyo-based Commons Asset Management Inc., for example, believes the company should make acquisitions or increase returns to shareholders.

In addition to a price cut on the 3DS, Nintendo is pinning its hopes on a new traditional console set to launch next year, dubbed the Wii U. The successor to the popular Wii console will feature a 6-inch touchscreen controller that has drawn comparisons to Apple's iPad.

I can see nintendo releasing a new ip or two on the iPhone/ipod touch that caters directly to having no buttons BUT I do not see mario or any of those ups on the systems because of the lack of buttons.

IF the next iPhone has a directional pad at least then i can see it but only new ups i can see.

If *investors* (fund managers and individual investors alike) believe they are so wise in product management and strategic planning for a tech company, why don't quit their day job and put their money where their mouths are? What credibility do they think they have when they start *recommending* product strategies?

I can see nintendo releasing a new ip or two on the iPhone/ipod touch that caters directly to having no buttons BUT I do not see mario or any of those ups on the systems because of the lack of buttons.

IF the next iPhone has a directional pad at least then i can see it but only new ups i can see.

Nintendo Handheld games are too button oriented. They could release an accessory and optional screen buttons I guess.

Seems like a good idea to refocus on smartphones to me. Integrated devices are the future. The iPod is also slowly going away. They could still make their own devices for the disappearing demographic that wants that. I can think of other companies that create dedicated hardware and games: Sega, Atari, etc... It is inevitable that Nintendo's hardware strategy will eventually fail.

the way I see it, this is terrible advice. Nintendo is at heart a hardware company -- they make game consoles. If they started porting their most valuable property to other consoles, it would be the end of their own, particularly when Apple has such a huge head start.

Much as I would love to play Super Mario on my phone, this would be an incredibly bad move for Nintendo...

unless they're ready to throw in the towel and become a game design company and start competing against EA and all the other game writers.